Extraterrestrial Life

For a long time, it has been believed and debated on the fact that that there is extraterrestrial life. However there is no widely accepted scientific evidence on the matter. Many articles have been published by many reputed agencies, such as NASA,  state the detection of potential life, chemical signals, bacterial residue and microbes. Creative thinkers have written on extraterrestrial life. There are many people who believe in the existence of life outside our mighty Earth.

Scientifically speaking, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur are the 6 major elements that the Earth is made up of. Combination of these elements is what helps life sustain on our planet. So far, many experiments have been conducted to find these elements on other planets but so far scientists have failed to detect all of the elements in one planet. It would be hard to spot life on any planet without the presence of the 6 elements. 

Since there is no scientific evidence, neither side of the debate can move forward, hence nothing can be proven. Therefore the controversy will continue until some concrete evidence pops up from either side. Till then, religious believers can believe that they exist, non believers can believe that they do not exist and then people like me can wonder on about the physical features of creatures that do not originate from Earth. 

TOK Day - Mr. Alchin's Lecture on Art

The three main things from Mr. Alchin's lecture are:

1) The most important thing that Mr. Alchin said was that one should not judge art by how pretty it looks but to judge the piece of art by the message it sends across.

2) Another important thing that Mr. Alchin talked about were the four qualities of art (Technical Skill, Mimesis, Emotional Expression and Transformation)

3) The final point I picked up from Mr. Alchin's lecture was how art is a medium through which we can learn about the world.

The 6 diploma subjects I take and my opinions on the quality and credibility of knowledge gained from these subjects.

1. Mathematics

I am ranking mathematics as number one because it is a subject that revolves around logical reasoning. Everything is proven and justified by theories. For example in math’s, there is always a definite answer to any question.

2. Physics

Like mathematics, physics revolves around logical reasoning; everything is based on proofs that can be proven logically. Scientists do experiments to prove theories.

3. Chemistry

In my opinion, chemistry is very much similar to physics and math’s in terms of the knowledge gained by chemistry-related studies. Hence it is number three.

4. Economics

I believe that economics gives us the some of the least reliable knowledge because it is based on assumptions made after studying general trends and patterns.

5. French

My second language is French, like any other language it helps communicate and interact with other people. Hence learning a new language is like gaining knowledge.

6. English Literature

I have ranked English as last because it involves past texts and it is mostly based on personal opinions. 

Faith vs Fact

Controversy 1:

Being a Hindu, I have worshiped several different gods, some of whose names I do not remember. I have been doing it because my parents do and my parents worship because their parents did it as well. Hence, it has been passed on from generation after generation. About a month ago at the dinner table, I asked the question, “Why are we worshipping to someone who we have never seen or heard from?” The answer I got from by parents was that God is someone who exists in our hearts and souls. When we get a message from an inner voice, it is God who is trying to stop us when we are trying to do wrong things and God is also the one who encourages us when we are about to do good things. To me, the answer seemed very convincing at the time, but now when I think about it, it still remains a mystery. It is a fact that we have never seen him but there is faith that he exists. 

Controversy 2:

As respectful citizens of our own proud countries, we have faith on the governments who are running the countries but the fact is that some governments are spying and betraying the trust of their naïve citizens. Whistleblowers are people who reveal wrongdoings and other information of an organization to the general public. One of the latest controversial debates is, are whistleblowers heroes or criminals? It is very important to see both perspectives of this debate because if we only choose to see one side of the story, it would be very bias to that particular side. Edward Snowden, an ex-employee of the CIA has also been charged with theft of government documents and espionage. Snowden has been hailed in many nations as a hero, because he revealed how the USA and Britain track all citizens. However, his actions have not been well received by the United States. This leak of mass surveillance programs is the biggest leak in Pentagon history. Snowden believes his actions are justified as he was informing the public about what is being done against them. He is currently residing in Russia where he has been granted temporary asylum. Earlier, whistleblowers were severely punished for exposing misconduct or illegal activity by the respective organizations, but now multiple countries have set up acts (possibly reluctantly) to protect whistleblowers. Hence it is very important to clearly identify who to punish and who not to and the only way it can be done is by having a balanced viewpoint on the situation.